Singapore Group Acquires Evason Phuket Resort

Posted: 28 Jun 2012 | 11:52 am

A subsidiary of Singapore firm L.C.Development has acquired the former Evason Phuket and Bon Island Resort for total consideration of THB1.4 billion.

The deal sees L.C. Development (Lum Chang) with it's fully owned subsidiary L.C. Hotels Pte. Ltd. transact all units in the Phuket Island Property Fund and The Evason Phuket Limited. A Thailand affiliate JTM (Thailand) of the group has been used as an operating entity.

A deal was struck on April 21st of this year which was subject to preconditions and obligations by the seller. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels brokered the transaction.

L.C.Development has a significant stake in the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket. The group also developed and invested into the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport in Singapore together with institutional investor LaSalle Investment Management.

The later property was sold for S$299.5 million in early 2011. Overseas the group owns the Crowne Plaza London Kensington and Holiday Inn City Centre Guangzhou.

It's not clear yet what the new ownership will do with the site, but one key element of the purchase of the resort is the large 75 rai site, with a considerable amount of vacant land. While no announcement has been made, industry speculation based on a close relationship between the developer and hotel operator IHG would point to the later ultimately being a potential brand partner.

Another Singapore group co-owns a large site adjacent to the site, which had been pegged for a luxury Four Seasons resort. HPL along with Lehman's had intended to promote the property but post financial crises and the latter groups collapse has put the project on the backburner.

Long term it's believed the prime oceanfront site will be built into an upscale resort. This and the Evason redevelopment will be considerable game changers for the Rawai hospitality sector.

This year continues to see Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels active in Phuket spurring hospitality asset sales, with a highlight being the USD90.2 million trade of the Moevenpick Resort Karon Beach by Kingdom Hotel Investments to Malaysia's TA Global Bhd.

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